Police suspect a serial rabbit killer in Germany may be using satellite images like those available on Google Earth to locate victims before draining their blood. Up to 40 rabbits have been killed in Dortmund and Witten – and in almost all the attacks the killer decapitates the pets and bleeds them dry.

Volker Schuette, one of a special team of five officers hunting the killer, warned that many animals had been snatched from cages away from public view, suggesting the killer might be using satellite images from the internet to track them down.

Now pet owners are being forced to take extreme measures, protecting their rabbits with locks and alarms and hiding them in cellars or garages to confound the killer.

One woman, Julia Perkun, has built a secret bunny bunker for her 13 rabbits in woodland on the edge of Witten.

"This place isn't visible from the street," Mrs Perkun told the BBC. "I try not to tell anyone where this place is. People know that I have rabbits, but I don't tell anyone where this place is, so I hope my rabbits are safe."

Ruhr Valley police said they feared that the assassin could be a Satanist, or Satanists, looking for blood for ungodly rituals.

There's nothing like a good Satanic rabbit-killer story to kick off the weekend. :D